Kuzneckiy 20 - Photo by Carolina Prada Bianchi

Kuzneckiy 20 - Photo by Carolina Prada Bianchi

Kuzneckiy 20 - Photo by Carolina Prada Bianchi

Kuzneckiy 20 - Photo by Carolina Prada Bianchi

Bancarella Piazza Rossa - Photo by Carolina Prada Bianchi

The wonder you feel your first time in Red Square is inexpressible.As you enter this immense space step by step, you find yourself face to face with the splendid backlit Basilica of St Basil with its onion domes and colours.On the right is the Kremlin, the historic symbol of Soviet Russia.The city is vast, as are the houses and the streets – it’s said that Lenin even had buildings moved so he could enlarge them. Amid the widespread grey, there are glimpses of sky and the multi-coloured gold basilicas.

Moscow is fascinating because everything is intense: the people, the climate, the buildings and the life. Russia is the homeland of Tolstoy, Nabokov and Dostoyevsky. It’s the contradiction of a people in the balance, a people which has experienced difficult times in their history and are now compensating for this. They are seeing strong economic growth and Moscow is definitely the new capital of modern luxury.Going around the Moscow shops is interesting because it gives an insight into Russian society – flashy clothes, sometimes excessive and unconventional, reflect the affluence and re-growth of this again emerging economy.

My shopping trip started at the classic Moscow Gum department stores. The first ones, in Red Square, were founded in 1893 and sell all the well-known brands, from Hermès to Chanel, as well as more innovative ones like Zadig & Voltaire.

I then moved on to the large TSUM department stores in Petrovka Uliza, which are similar to Barney’s in New York. Here are more sophisticated brands like Givenchy, Peter Pilotto and Christopher Kane alongside Italian classics such as Giorgio Armani and Prada.

Also in Petrovka Uliza, Moscow’s central shopping area, which has shops like Miu Miu, Chanel, Prada and Hermés, is the concept store Aizel. This sells the work of cutting-edge Belgian designers like Ann Demeulemeester at Maison Martin Margiela.

Somewhere you have to visit is the delicatessen Eliseev, which is famous for its crumbling pre-revolutionary architecture with lamps, stained glass and mosaics decorating ceilings and walls. Buy at least a bottle of vodka, a jar of caviar and some herrings in oil.

Strolling towards the Kuzneckiy district, you find two other famous stores. The first is Podium, a concept store in Kuzneckiy. As well as selling really important brands like Nina Ricci and Balenciaga, it also stocks work by emerging Russian designers like Ulyana Sergeenko, who uses amazing fabrics to create skirts, hats and clothes of the highest quality!

In the same street, there’s Kuzneckly 20, the most western and alternative in the city: whitewashed brick walls give this space a strong New York look. It has well known brands like Rochas, but also emerging designers and cutting-edge clothes.

Last was a stop at the stalls on Red Square, where you can find fantastic fox fur hats at affordable prices and military style headgear, copies from the former Soviet Union. It’s halfway between fashion and tradition.